Leigha Horton :: Greenroom
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I was recently invited to answer seven quick questions for the 7QQ Interview Series by my favorite online time-killer for Twin Cities issues, MNspeak.

An honor, and a pleasure. And kind of embarrassing after all of my day-job colleagues found out about it.

Note: As is possibly far too obvious, I’m procrastinating memorizing my freaking lines for the next show right now. I ought to garner some sympathy with the level of difficulty, though; one of the scenes is a play on Abbott and Costello’s Who’s on First? called Who’s on Iraq? (the premise: “Who’s on Iraq, What’s on Iran, I Don’t Know’s on North Korea” – if you don’t find that as hilarious as I do, go take a listen to the original audio and then imagine the new consequences…it’s comedy gold, people). Sadly, it’s right up there with Havel’s Vanek Trilogy or Gertrude Stein to memorize. Lots of talking in circles. Circles that I have to lead.

It burns. Buuuuuurns. (whimper)

The Monster of Phantom Lake (my first lead role in a feature film) is back by popular demand! Please join me this Wednesday, May 17th, at 7:30 pm at the stunning Heights Theatre in Columbia Heights. We’ve received loads of great press (check out the TMoPL website for links to reviews) – so here’s your chance to pretend you’re from Missouri and insist on seeing it for yourself!

Also, by coming to this screening, you might be helping us land a distribution deal. We’ve got a producer in L.A. who is interested to see audience reaction; so while you’re watching the movie, he’ll be watching you. Oh, the horror!

“The Monster of Phantom Lake” returns to the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights, Minnesota!

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 – 7:30 PM, $5.00 at the door
The Heights Theater
3951 Central Avenue NE
Columbia Heights, Minnesota 55421
www.heightstheater.com

We’ve recently been discussing wider distribution with a producer in L.A. who, unfortunately, is unable to come to the screening. He has asked us to videotape audience reaction to the screening as a way to help him get a better feel for the movie. For this, we would like to absolutely pack the theater with moviegoers so please, BRING EVERYONE YOU KNOW! The more, the merrier, the better our chances of securing a meaningful distribution deal. The film is family-friendly, although children under 5 might be frightened. We will be selling DVDs & posters after the show and much of the cast & crew will be in attendance.

Here’s a little snippet of an article that was published in the Flint, Michigan paper “The Flint Journal” regarding the recent Flint Film Festival held last month:

“… the best of the features I saw was ‘The Monster of Phantom Lake,’ a hilarious parody of grade-D horror/sci-fi films of the 1950s … the film is full of cheesy dialogue, improbable plot turns and a dead-on performance by Josh Craig as a stuffy ‘man of science’ who has none of the right answers but can strum a rock ‘n’ roll song on his handy guitar.

According to the film’s Web site, a ‘Phantom Lake’ sequel already is in the works, with Craig reprising his role as ‘Professor Jackson … from the university.’ Here’s hoping we’ll see it in a future Flint Film Festival.”

It’s only five measly dollars, so bring friends and buy them some popcorn while you’re at it. Can’t wait to see you Wednesday!

Just in time for the premiere of The Monster of Phantom Lake (and my first lead in a feature film) tomorrow night at The Heights Theater, we got a great write-up in this week’s City Pages! SCORE!

The Monster of Phantom Lake
Heights Theatre, Thursday, March 9 at 7:30 pm

A glowing tribute to the creature features of the 1950s, this homegrown film from director Christopher R. Mihm works as equal parts reflexive comedy and straight-up drive-in shocker. When a scientist (Josh Craig) and his love-struck grad student (Leigha Horton) set out for a jolly weekend of “scientific experimentation,” they’re in for horrifying results. After a shell-shocked WWII vet stumbles into a lake that’s loaded with nuclear waste, the duo, along with a group of rock’n'roll-loving co-eds, find themselves stalked by a leafy, slimy monster. In keeping with the low-budget tradition, the indelibly costumed creature is kept under wraps for most of the film, appearing only as the hand that reaches into the frame and grasps terrified victims. Craig demonstrates his mastery of Shatner-style pause-acting (“Wait a minute… Wait…a… minute“), while Mihm takes the audience on a jolly tour of tongue-in-cheek ’50s sexism, hilarious innuendo, and plenty of arm’s length slow-dancing. Featuring Mihm’s original composition, “A-Rockin’, A-Rollin’, All the Way A-Ramblin’” along with a wealth of public-domain mood music (listen closely and you’ll hear snippets from Carnival of Souls), this is an unusually warm and witty homage.

Be there, or be so TOTALLY square. Or out of town.

If it isn’t the latter, lie.

We have garnered a few reviews now for Twelfth Night at Theatre in the Round – and since I’m proud of our work and thoroughly respect audience feedback, here is a tidy list for your perusal:

St. Paul Pioneer Press (My character is part of the “Rat Pack”)
AOL City Guide – Top Five Picks of the Week
Matthew Everett – In My Humble Opinion (Twin Cities playwright)
Chris Kidder – Fringe By Numbers (Twin Cities playwright, director)
Lavender Magazine, Arts and Entertainment: On the Townsend (more of a preview than a review, but I’m called hilarious and therefore this gets linked)

“…and thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.” Kidding, kidding. There are some great praises and valued criticism in each of the reviews. Matthew Everett’s is definitely my favorite on the whole – yes, he says very kind things about my portrayal of Feste so he gets extra gold stars on his paper, but I feel his review was exceptionally thorough and well-founded.

And of course, I wouldn’t be doing my job as an active promoter of this work justice if I didn’t urge you to come out and see the show for yourself… so, uh, come out and see the show for yourself. You’ll be glad you did. For real.

Holy Hannah, last night’s performance was a tough sell.

I am the first to admit when there’s an even remote possibility that it’s my fault, or when the cast as a whole seems a bit off – but for the most part last night we put in a dang good show, and the audience just wasn’t having it. Sure, there were laughs here and there, and at one point I could see that one of my lines thoroughly delighted a woman in the audience; but overall, it just wasn’t grabbing them.

The backstage charades commenting on their cadaverous nature were a hoot: there were pantomimes of pulling teeth, slitting throats, in addition to desperate goofy dances. In the green room there were lamentations about waiting for the rigor mortis to set in, and suggestions of streaking across stage between scenes, or perhaps some strategically placed fellatio – ANYTHING to wake them up. Alas, we plodded onward as scripted.

It makes me wonder if audiences truly understand the power they have to make or break a show. We feed off an audience’s energy so that we can reflect it back upon them, and last night they sucked all of our energy out of us…they were the black hole of funny. I thoroughly believe they had a combination of the Friday Night Sleepies and overwhelming dread of the show ending and having to go back outside (a -9 standing temperature with -35 degree windchill will do that to people).

To top it all off, Monday night I came down with a nasty cold-slash-cough – and have been doing everything in my power since then to fight it, of course to no avail. My throat was dry, I couldn’t hold in all my coughs, and my concentration was spotty. The singing was going generally okay, though, until I totally botched the last song; leaving Dan-the-Rockstar-Guitarist out to dry (my continued sincere apologies, friend!). So any joy the audience would have walked away with quickly turned to pity. Um, oops.

I call a do-over.

To end on a positive note, here are some great reviews from last week:
St. Paul Pioneer Press (I’m included in the “Rat Pack”)
AOL City Guide – Top Five Picks of the Week

Oh happy day! August is my absolute favorite time of year in Minnesota solely due to the 11 days of bohemian theatrical bliss known as the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Today is an especially sweet day because it not only marks the start of the 2005 Fringe Fest, it also is the day the St. Paul Pioneer Press (one of the two daily newspapers in our fair Twin Cities) came out with a Fringe preview that singles out and praises the Fringe Podcast.

Insert Horton Happy Dance here.

Take a read:

St. Paul Pioneer Press
Thursday, August 4, 2005

ATTACK OF THE POD PEOPLE

Can’t fit in any Fringe shows? Get a taste for the festival via your portable music player.

Fringe organizers recently recorded two of their traditional sneak-preview presentations in audio-file format and released them on their Web site as downloadable podcasts — radiolike shows that can be loaded on an iPod or other digital device and heard anywhere.

Podcasts number in the thousands, and many are achingly dull, but the Fringe’s podcasts are a cut above thanks in large part to their engaging host, actress Leigha Horton. Partly recorded before a live audience at two festival venues, they include performance excerpts along with artist interviews and newsy tidbits.

More podcasts are planned. One will be released just before the festival begins, said Leah Cooper, Fringe executive director and a podcast co-producer. A fourth during the festival will feature updates on how shows are selling along with “buzz and gossip,” she said. A fifth podcast will be released shortly after the festival ends.

Find the podcasts at www.fringefestival.org/podcasts.cfm. If you use Apple Computer’s iTunes software, search for “fringe” in the iTunes Music Store’s podcast directory to find and subscribe to the Fringe feed.

In a related effort, Thirst Theater miniplays once presented at a Minneapolis rooftop bar are now offered as podcasts. One is free, others are $4 apiece (a tough sell since virtually all podcasts are free). See www.fringefestival.org/thirst.cfm

So, take a listen. And then check back, because I will be updating again in the very near future with other odes to Fringe.